Henderson Co. neighbors upset over water bills

HENDERSON COUNTY (KYTX) -- Neighbors in the Cherokee Shores subdivision near Mabank are upset by what they believe are uneven and unfair billing practices by their water provider, Monarch Utilities, which is a branch of SouthWest Water Company.

Line by line, Patti Woods showed us her Monarch water bill Thursday. It showed 23,000 gallons of water--with a price tag of $350--billed to her, her daughter and her boyfriend in one month.

"I can't talk to them. Most people can't," Woods said. "They got a hold of me one time to try to settle the bill with me which did not work."

Woods is against a settlement on principle. She has no grass, no pool, and refuses to fill her bathtub.

"[I] shower and wash clothes," she said. "I don't even really cook."

"There's a neighbor that just filled a pool up," Merrill said. "He put 20,000 gallons of water in a pool and he had to pay $120."

Without a different offer from Monarch, Woods says she's out of luck.

"I can't afford it," she said. "I'm going to lose my water. My water will be shut off because I can't pay it. And you have to have water to live."

Monarch representatives told CBS 19 they worked with Woods to find a leak inside her home.

"This shows why it is so important for customers to take action when a leak is discovered. Even a small, half-gallon-per-minute leak can add up to more than 20,000 gallons during a 30-day billing cycle," Monarch Utilities East Director of Operations Ryan Quigley said.

"Monarch has been in communication with this customer to determine that she does have a leak, and we have worked out a payment plan. As a next step, this customer is eligible for Monarch's 'leak relief program,' which offers bill-pay assistance to customers who show documentation that a leak has been fixed."

Woods denies that there was ever a leak.

Through last September, Monarch recorded normal water usage around 2,000 gallons a month. But last August there was another spike almost identical to the one that happened this year. Woods did not live in the home last August.